Tensar’s TriAx and Tensile Strength

We’re regularly asked, “What’s the tensile strength of TriAx?”

In this video, Jonathan Cook of Tensar explains that, “it’s not relevant for the design used in roads or temporary loading platforms. In these cases, the tensile strength of the product has proven to be a poor indicator of expected performance.

Proposing to use a geogrid’s tensile strength in a design, suggests that it’s expected to strain under load and that deformation will be inevitable in the finished road or platform. In fact, a geogrid’s ability to stabilise a granular fill, is a far more important factor in determining the performance of a road or working platform.

As load is applied, the unbound granular fill mechanically interlocks with the Tensar TriAx geogrid. The granular particles partially penetrate and project through the geogrid’s apertures confining and restraining them from moving laterally thus increasing the fill’s bearing capacity and abiity to carry the imposed load.

While Tensar’s TriAx geogrids have tensile strength values, they’re unimportant when included in the granular layer. It’s the interaction with the fill itself – known as the stabilisation effect – that is important.”